


Green Growing Things

by nicKnack22



Series: Nested [4]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Beekeeper Cain, Beekeeper Castiel, Domestic Fluff, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff, Gardener Castiel, Gardens & Gardening, Gen, Love, M/M, Parent-Child Relationship, Sisters, Sweet, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-29
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-08-11 21:30:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7908286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicKnack22/pseuds/nicKnack22
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel raises his daughters to love the earth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Green Growing Things

**Author's Note:**

> for @alullabytoleaveby who asked for “Cas and Emma [any age] gardening together”  
> originally posted on tumblr (http://musingsdeme.tumblr.com/post/139126208300/alullabytoleaveby-musingsdeme-for)

Castiel remembers the first time that he visited Joshua’s Garden: shy with scuffed knees, barely turned four, and half hiding behind his father’s legs. He gazed wide eyed at all of the green: trailing vines and tiny potted plants, flowers and fruit trees, a little pond with colorful fish swimming in circles around blossoming lilies. While his father and Joshua spoke about trellises and chestnuts, Castiel wandered through the lush wilderness. He brushed his chubby fingers over leaves, gently and carefully, amazed at how similar and different they all felt. Some were waxed and thick, others thin and scratchy, a few were soft and fuzzy like his stuffed bear. He breathed the smell deep into his lungs: it smelled like dirt and rain and spices. The sour smell of mulch made him sneeze, but he couldn’t help but smile as he looked around, absorbing the energy of this place. This place was magical, full of life, like a fairy tale.

His father smiled down at him and ruffled his hair, “Would you like to take something home?”

“Really?” Castiel asked, eyes wide in excitement.

His father laughed, “Really.”

Joshua had a kind face. He winked at Castiel’s father and then leaned down to speak directly to Castiel, like they were sharing a secret.

“Let’s see what will suit you, young man,” he said and led Castiel away.

Castiel has visited Joshua’s Garden many times since then. Alone of Cain and Collette’s children, Castiel had inherited his father’s “green thumb.” His sisters loved what the garden produced: Anna would fashion them all crowns of the flowers that they grew, Hannah would help their mother make jams and jellies and pies. Castiel loved gardening. He never stopping thinking that it was magical, a miracle, that you could place a tiny seed in the ground and could help it, with enough love and care, to grow into something beautiful. As a child, Cain brought him to visit Joshua’s Garden every weekend in the spring, summer, and fall. Castiel would wander through the plants and listen to Cain and Joshua talk, soaking up their words like a sponge. As a teen, he would bring Joshua jars of honey (his father also taught Castiel to care for bees) and jars of jam. When he went away to college, Joshua gave Castiel a small clipping of the center tree and told him to always keep some green in his life. Castiel is almost certain that Joshua didn’t mean the green of Dean’s eyes, but he can’t help but think back on the old gardener’s words on his wedding day. Castiel says “I do” surrounded by verdant, summer flowers, and gets lost in Dean’s smile, brighter than any ray of sunshine could ever hope to be. 

When they move into their new home, Dean tills him a plot of land and Castiel plants it with seeds. They care for it together. They cultivate it, a little oasis that blooms and blossoms alongside like their new life together. When Claire comes into their lives, Castiel lays her on a blanket in the garden, while he weeds and prunes. The bees and butterflies and birdsong lull her to sleep better than any mobile ever could. Two years later, the only thing that sooths a teething Emma is a midnight stroll through the bean poles and night blooming jasmine. Dean bounces her up and down, up and down until the scent of flowers and the chorus of crickets quietes their fussy daughter. At five and three, Claire and Emma chase each other through the tomato plants and make flower crowns for each other. They run barefoot around the tree that has grown so much from the clipping that Joshua once gave to Castiel; tall and strong, it now proudly presides over the antics of his children. They play pirates with the stakes Castiel uses to ground tomatoes and peppers. They stage games of witches and princes around the ivy trellis. At the end of their adventuring, Claire and Emma sprint to Cas and Dean covered in mud and grass stains, wearing big smiles, and smelling faintly of mint. They “help” Castiel water the plants and they help him pick the fruits and vegetables. They help Dean turn those same fruits and vegetables into dinners and lunches and snacks, jams and jellies and sauces. They pick flowers for grandma (Mary) and nonna (Collete) and when they visit Cain they beg him to take them to talk to the bees. 

Hael is born on the heels of a January blizzard. The garden is asleep, but they place hanging flowers in Hael’s room to sooth their winter child. She has Castiel’s tufty dark hair, and she refuses to sleep unless she’s being held over Dean’s heart. Dean smirks and quips that they’ve finally been outnumbered, Castiel can’t help but admire this family that he’s grown through love and care. 

They take the children to Joshua’s Garden for the first time that March. Emma is newly turned four, riding high on Dean’s shoulders and relishing her altitude; Claire is on the cusp of six, tugging Castiel’s fingers, blonde ponytail swinging wildly as she tries to get her papa to walk faster. Hael, at two months, is swaddled against Castiel’s chest, peering at all the green with new eyes. Dean winks at Cas, and Cas laughs when Emma kicks Dean in the chest. 

Joshua is waiting for them at the center of the garden. He looks the same as he did when Castiel came here as a child: patient and kind with gentle eyes and a warm smile. He greets Dean and Cas as old friends. He lays a gentle hand on the new baby’s downy hair, almost as a blessing. Dean sets Emma on the ground with the ease of practice (he does get a stray knee or elbow in the eye). She and Claire stand in front of Joshua (the kind man that they know from Christmas and Birthdays) as wide eyed as Castiel once was. Dean laces his fingers with Cas,’ and Cas clears his throat.

“Would you girls like to pick out something you can grow yourselves?” Castiel asks.

“Really?!” They chorus excitedly

Dean chuckles, “Really.”

Joshua winks at Dean and Castiel, “Let’s go see if we can find something that suits you young ladies.”

Castiel surreptitiously wipes his eyes, as he watches his daughters follow Joshua into the Garden, one on each side, staring around at all that green, all that life. Dean wraps an arm around his shoulders, places a kiss against his temple. Cas leans into him. Hael makes a small mewling sound, startling them both. Castiel smiles, rubbing a hand against her back.

“It’ll be your turn before you know it,” he promises her. 

Dean leads the two of them to sit beneath the boughs of the tree, surrounded by love, warmth, and green.


End file.
